tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82648731417472896072018-02-21T00:22:48.004+02:00SNOW FEATHERSAllyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.comBlogger463125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-17792999792553951692018-01-22T18:00:00.000+02:002018-01-23T21:20:48.058+02:00IT'S TIME <iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TjTkIplr0Ik?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-20307970229132864292018-01-02T11:00:00.000+02:002018-01-02T15:44:10.379+02:00The Road towards the WORD <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5NOoQPxWgNo/WkuEz75E5JI/AAAAAAAACMI/6SrnSxuSAJca5HX8rwKqdT3XVrZ4sxG6gCLcBGAs/s1600/haigg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5NOoQPxWgNo/WkuEz75E5JI/AAAAAAAACMI/6SrnSxuSAJca5HX8rwKqdT3XVrZ4sxG6gCLcBGAs/s400/haigg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">One of the reasons why we read is generated&nbsp;</span>by the desire to escape a crazy world, a world in which we sometimes do not find ourselves. We read to save ourselves. This is also the case of the British writer <b>Matt Haig</b>, born in 1975 in Sheffield and appreciated more and more by his readers for the honesty with which he writes about subjects that are not at all easy to tackle. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: #a2c4c9; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Making his debut as a writer for children and teens – some of his books have been published at Nemira – few people knew, up until the publication of his book<b> “Reasons to stay alive”</b> in 2015 that Matt Haig faced a long period of depression while he was 24 years old, a period during which, because of his panic attacks, even the simplest activities were no longer possible. In an interview for Hay Festival given in May 2015 Haig speaks about the only way to cope with this existential pain: reading the books of his childhood such as “The Hobbit”, “Winnie the Pooh” or “The Catcher in the Rye” as an escape from the cruel reality into a childhood time when everything was perfect and afterwards, going back to reality by writing down what he felt. Step by step, reading and writing became ways of overcoming his illness and learning to live again, escaping his own mind simply to discover that rebuilding his reality is not such a complex process. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: #a2c4c9; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Reading and writing have become a therapy for Matt Haig, just as in the case of a famous American writer, Ernest Hemingway who used to say that <b><i>“there is no </i></b></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><b><i>friend as loyal as a book”</i></b> and his take on writing was a very definite one: </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><i><b>“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer.”&nbsp;</b></i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #a2c4c9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>"The words have healed my mind”</i></b> says Matt Haig, looking at books as one of the essential reasons to stay alive because they keep us connected to the rest of humanity while helping us to rediscover ourselves.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #a2c4c9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #a2c4c9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Words lead to a story and the story represents, in its simplest form, a change, either physical or mental. The stories we read convince us of the fact that inevitably things change and just like that we can do it, too, we can leave the state we are in with the help of the books we read. For a writer, the road from reading to writing is a more intense one, but with higher chances of finding yourself once more. We read to escape but we find ourselves in this process, better, wiser, in an improved version of ourselves, mentally and spiritually.&nbsp;</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-13424820061851255712017-10-29T16:00:00.000+02:002017-10-29T16:16:19.832+02:00Immortality, Revenge and a Ghost <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8ciNQ7N4ow/WfXfVfyEcRI/AAAAAAAACKg/eeHa8c2XjP8JQ4nKv2XTOMsdefCcKTGCACLcBGAs/s1600/45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8ciNQ7N4ow/WfXfVfyEcRI/AAAAAAAACKg/eeHa8c2XjP8JQ4nKv2XTOMsdefCcKTGCACLcBGAs/s400/45.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><b>"Hamlet"</b>&nbsp;is, in my opinion, Shakespeare’s most complex play, with so many layers that can be tackled and even more interpretations of what the characters have done or are about to do, not to mention what Shakespeare might have implied and what the background and the cultural context actually were centuries ago.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>"Hamlet"</b> is, no doubt, a play about death and revenge. Killing Claudius seems easy once there is evidence of what he has done, but when evidence comes in the shape of a ghost, things turn to be more complicated than expected, especially in a time when the trend was to distance from superstitious imaginary and embrace humanism. In my opinion, there are many perspectives on death in the play, depending on our prior knowledge and the way we would like to understand and decompose it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span>If one is familiar with the Buddhist teachings, then the lines in Act 1, scene 2 (72-73) <b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“all that lives must die, / passing through nature to eternity”</span></b> is not at all strange. In the same scene, Hamlet wishes <b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“that this too too solid flesh would melt,/ and resolve itself into a dew!”</span></b>(129-130). In this respect, Buddhists are quite aware that we will return to nature when we end our time on Earth because we are one with it. Through karma and eventual enlightenment one can escape samsara and achieve the end of suffering, which is Nirvana. Isn’t Hamlet trying to escape his faith by not committing any murder and not avenging his father’s death, but the odds are against him? Doesn’t he wish for a more gentle task?&nbsp;<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite/ that ever I was born to set it right!”</b></span>(I.5 190-191)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In the final scene of the play, before Hamlet dies, he says<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“there is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.”</span> </b>(211). He seems to have resigned himself with what had happened mainly because he knows he would be taken care of by God or the supreme force governing all creatures. This return to the original, natural condition of the human mind, without any worry or struggle, letting it all be is defined as enlightenment or Satori in Buddhism and, unlike animals, which are always in this condition, we have lost this condition and made things and life more complicated. In order to regain this state, we need to reach true inner peace, <b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“… the rest is silence.”</span></b> (350)&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-18163960428131159772017-08-16T05:00:00.000+03:002017-08-16T05:00:14.161+03:00Happy Birthday, Rubia! :) <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rx0mYN32Kps?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br />Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-16897937900756007502017-08-11T14:00:00.000+03:002017-08-15T10:29:13.252+03:007 reasons to watch "Will"<b><span style="font-size: large;">"Fight for what you believe in!"</span></b><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0wxo7XwyiqI/WY7heMHgfSI/AAAAAAAACJk/FTbcfQCPt5QBw37wyKkqd_czBwtm5GLWACLcBGAs/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0wxo7XwyiqI/WY7heMHgfSI/AAAAAAAACJk/FTbcfQCPt5QBw37wyKkqd_czBwtm5GLWACLcBGAs/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">1. "Will" is a 2017 show that no one with an interest in the life of the famous playwright William Shakespeare should miss.</span></b></i><br /><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">2. The young (and hot) Will's life is presented before he became famous, after he arrives in London eager to make a name for himself.</span></b></i><br /><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">3. If you loved the Oscar winning film "Shakespeare in Love" just imagine this is a better version of the movie, with better costumes, soundtrack and more intriguing facts.</span></b></i><br /><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">4. The TV show adds more characters in Will's life and presents his artistic struggles better than any other show or movie about the Bard's life.</span></b></i><br /><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">5. It is a fun, vivid show, full of punk rock music and irony, in which Will is no longer a dusty old man, but a cool yet naive young man struggling to become the one and only Shakespeare.</span></b></i><br /><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">6. Marlowe, Shakespeare's supposed rival, is present as well, but not as a mere rival, he is Will's admirer, too and this adds to the main character's depth.</span></b></i><br /><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">7. The show also tackles an unexpected idea: Will is a practicing Catholic, which was illegal in England at that time, and this fact increases the danger in which he may find himself while in London.&nbsp;</span></b></i><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mVz5Jv7ZbPc?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br />Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-48502733349617568782017-07-14T07:00:00.000+03:002017-07-14T12:15:26.768+03:00Vive la France! <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wwg3Arym7ZU/WWiFApHeeFI/AAAAAAAACIw/ZEPFQ1XNGlY-ycXr81nU-XSI9_LO8RWiQCLcBGAs/s1600/PicMonkey%2BCollage3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="1600" height="132" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wwg3Arym7ZU/WWiFApHeeFI/AAAAAAAACIw/ZEPFQ1XNGlY-ycXr81nU-XSI9_LO8RWiQCLcBGAs/s400/PicMonkey%2BCollage3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />It's the 14th of July and I cannot but celebrate, with a few French poems, Bastille Day. Yesterday I saw the common press conference of Macron and Trump on CNN and I can truly say I wish we also had such an intelligent president, "un vrai diplomate", unlike the joker next to him.<br /><br /><h4><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgba(217 , 215 , 215 , 0.2); font-family: &quot;lato&quot; , sans-serif; text-align: center;">“</span><span style="background-color: rgba(217 , 215 , 215 , 0.2); font-family: &quot;lato&quot; , sans-serif; text-align: center;">La poésie est mémoire, mémoire de l'intensité perdue.</span><span style="background-color: rgba(217 , 215 , 215 , 0.2); font-family: &quot;lato&quot; , sans-serif; text-align: center;">”</span></span></h4><br />Now, while the parade is taking place on the Champs Elysees, I would like to celebrate this day with some French poems by a writer that, up until last year, when he passed away at the age of 93, was considered "the greatest French living poet" and whose poems have been studied in the last decades by French high school students. His name is <b>YVES BONNEFOY </b>(1923 - 2016)&nbsp;and he was not only a poet but also an impressive essayist, a very good translator of Shakespeare's work, a professor at "College de France", an art historian and an exceptional critic.<br /><br />Here is the first part of one of his beautiful poems, <b>"Summer night"</b>:<br /><br /><h4><b><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Nuit d'</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">é</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">t</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">é</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">&nbsp;</span></b></h4><h4><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Il me semble, ce soir,</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Que le ciel étoile, s'élargissant,</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Se rapproche de nous ; et que la nuit,</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Derrière tant de feux, est moins obscure.</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Et le feuillage aussi brille sous le feuillage.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Le vert, et l'orangé des fruits mûrs, s'est accru,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Lampe d'un ange proche ; un battement&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">De lumière cachée prend l'arbre universel.</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Il me semble, ce soir.</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">Que nous sommes entrés dans le jardin, dont l'ange</span><br style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: #ece8db; color: #333333; font-family: &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; text-align: -webkit-center;">A refermé les portes sans retour.</span></h4>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-89998633841469577422017-07-04T07:30:00.000+03:002017-07-04T07:30:18.791+03:00We Read to Become Happier<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DyIqzj_724Q/WVouJ5FP8DI/AAAAAAAACIg/ViUxVzQHRF4ZjXaH3R4KQ--AAWMXzRf_gCLcBGAs/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DyIqzj_724Q/WVouJ5FP8DI/AAAAAAAACIg/ViUxVzQHRF4ZjXaH3R4KQ--AAWMXzRf_gCLcBGAs/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">We read for different reasons. We read because we “must”, to find out information, out of curiosity, but I would like to believe that a lot of those who read do it for the wellness that reading offers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">A few months ago, while studying for the “Literature and Mental Health” course, run by Warwick Business School together with ReLit (The Bibliotherapy Foundation), I discovered an article on <b>bibliotherapy</b>, “Books do furnish the mind: the art and science of bibliotherapy”, written in 2016 by two medical consultants, Jonathan Bate and Andrew Schuman, both Oxford professors, that made me understand, once again, the importance of reading for our mental and emotional wellbeing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The short article is extremely comprehensive and it presents the evolution of the term <b>“bibliotherapy”</b>. This term is more than 100 years old and it was first used in 1916 by the American essayist Samuel McChord Crothers. In his essay he takes an interview to his imaginary friend who is a bibliotherapist at the “Tired Businessmen Institute” and where he carefully prescribes his patients books that can help them get rid of depression or unemployment. This imaginary bibliotherapist analyses the therapeutic value of the books he prescribes for each and every case in order to notice their positive results.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">The miraculous power of books dates back a few millennia, even if at that time it was not named <b>“bibliotherapy”</b>. According to the Greek historian Siculus, above the entrance to the sacred library of pharaoh Ramses II it was written “the place where the soul is healed”, and the Renaissance man Michel de Montaigne stated that there are three ways to cure the most terrible mental illness – loneliness: to have a lover, to have friends, to read books, but out of the three options, the one that can last all life is the presence of books. The relation with the books that we know and adore creates a unique state, beneficial and repeatable with every reading. Have you ever wondered why we can sometimes go back to rereading certain books or why a certain poem touches and takes us to a world where everything seems easier, better?&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyipTM32tnayhDF91XxRZT4IXmAk2idTPzpZo683N2NJHsXSj65qCsJ45B2DLw5pMIqWYcAjLVomNBcQNm69w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">In the 19<sup>th</sup>century, the philosopher John Stuart Mill affirmed in his autobiography that William Wordsworth’s poetry cured him of depression; in 2017, his poetry is once again remembered in connection with a difficult loss and the way in which these poems can help you get over the pain you feel because Wordsworth himself suffered these terrible losses: two of his children died before having turned eight. In fact, poems are the “pills” to be administered most efficiently due to their short, yet memorable form. It is more practical to recommend a poem or an anthology of poems than a long novel which demands time and concentration, but what counts most is the impact that the literacy work, be it a poem or a Victorian novel has on our life. &nbsp;Read to discover yourselves!&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-19741638635918332502017-06-25T13:33:00.003+03:002017-06-25T13:36:34.993+03:00June is for Japanese Reading Challenge <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qo6SkTfMC6I/WU-Q9V__bqI/AAAAAAAACIM/1e7cAfgQX3oKp4BUsmSOje14DhOPoOg_gCLcBGAs/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage67.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qo6SkTfMC6I/WU-Q9V__bqI/AAAAAAAACIM/1e7cAfgQX3oKp4BUsmSOje14DhOPoOg_gCLcBGAs/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage67.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />June is here, (and almost gone) school is over and what can be better than one of my favorite challenges...? <b>The Japanese Literature Challenge</b>, hosted by <b>Bellezza</b> <a href="https://dolcebellezza.net/2017/06/23/japanese-literature-challenge-11-welcome/" target="_blank">here</a>. &nbsp;I have lost count of the years I joined the other readers who love (or are about to love) Japanese literature, but for this summer, I have planned to read two great books.<br />The first one is by my favorite Japanese writer, <b>Haruki Murakami</b> and his non-fiction book written in 2015 <b>"Meseria de romancier"</b> ("The Novelist as a profession", not yet translated into English), published in 2016 by Polirom in the collection dedicated to him. The book contains 12 essays on what it means to be a writer and I am so eager to discover his take on this job and the advice he gives in order to become a successful novelist.<br />The second one is a Japanese thriller, <b>"Malice"</b>, by <b>Keigo Higashino</b> (called the Japanese Stieg Larsson), written in 1996 and translated into English in 2014. The book belongs to the Police Detective Kaga series, including 9 other novels. It is going to be my first book by Higashino, well -known in Japan for his mystery novels.<b> "Malice" </b>is supposed to be a book which exploits murderous feelings and the reasons why a murder is committed, rather than the killer who did it. This definitely sounds interesting for a summer read!<br /><br />Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-8370705773429988762017-05-01T09:00:00.000+03:002017-05-01T09:00:19.077+03:00Alike in our Passion <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kQjtK32mGJQ?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-74813243955644683992017-04-26T14:00:00.000+03:002017-04-26T14:00:09.590+03:00Art to See in Venice <div><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All those who enter Damien Hirst's latest exhibition in Venice, you'd better believe it!&nbsp;</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Damien Hirst</b> is one of the most famous and richest living artists, whose career began in the 90s and since then, he has never stopped baffling the world of contemporary art with his daring exhibitions and takes on life and death. Named "the bad boy" of British art, he has been quiet for the past decade but that was because he has been working on his newest presentation which opened in Venice on the 9th of April and will last until 3rd December.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bg-7oyhip6M/WPyEZyXC6vI/AAAAAAAACGo/cDGidN2uD1YEa4gpWYaLTPLlRDn-pcjwACLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bg-7oyhip6M/WPyEZyXC6vI/AAAAAAAACGo/cDGidN2uD1YEa4gpWYaLTPLlRDn-pcjwACLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage43.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>"Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable"</b> is so enormous that it actually occupies two locations: Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, buildings own by the billionaire, art collector and Christie's owner Francois Pinault.&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-language: RO;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The bold exhibition presents a sea fantasy at a fantastical scale and it even comes with a back story: the objects presented, 189 of them, come from a ship that sank 2,000 years ago. They are made of different materials, ranging from marble to silver, "belonging" to Greek, Aztec, Roman, Japanese or contemporary culture. Hirst's team even filmed this discoveries to make everything believable but, t</span><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">he ambiguity is always there when you look at the objects: are they more than 2,000 years old, being covered with corals, or were they created just a few years ago?&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The most impressive piece of work is his 18 meter high black statue "Demon with Bowl" that has you wonder how anyone would manage to get it inside the building.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Even if people seem to either love or hate his exhibitions, I can truly say it was a privilege to see this incredible presentation of a genius who makes you believe the unbelievable and who has spent millions of dollars from his own pocket to do just that... until his collection is auctioned next year :)&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/824m9y3qfOU?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-84588156092650441312017-04-19T17:00:00.000+03:002017-04-19T17:47:22.193+03:00God's Silence <span style="font-size: large;"><b>My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me?&nbsp;</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">Why would a good God allow evil to exist in the world? The silence we encounter while reading the book is the silence we go through after we have tried in vain to&nbsp;</span>avoid suffering and persecution.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;"><br />&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>Endo’s novel, written in 1966, is based on real events and people. The story occurs in 1638 and revolves around a Jesuit priest, Sebastian Rodrigues, who discovers that his former mentor, Father Ferreira, now a missionary in Japan, has apostatized (he renounced his faith under torture). Rodrigues doubts this and wants to go to Japan to find for himself but also encourage the hidden and persecuted Christians there.While hiding, running from the Japanese authorities and finally being imprisoned, Rodrigues battles with his faith and questions why God is silent in all this suffering.&nbsp;</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t2hUqJcdpOs/WPdzYwQ5vYI/AAAAAAAACGY/cF3gl8PmVIIDjYLFxBztB1B5Jm1NQvSGACLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BCollage67.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t2hUqJcdpOs/WPdzYwQ5vYI/AAAAAAAACGY/cF3gl8PmVIIDjYLFxBztB1B5Jm1NQvSGACLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BCollage67.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;">I, too, stood on the sacred image. For a moment this foot was on his face. It was on the face of the man who has been ever in my thoughts, on the face that was before me on the mountains, in my wanderings, in prison, on the best and most beautiful face that any man can ever know, on the face of him whom I have always longed to love. Even now that face is looking at me with eyes of pity from the plaque rubbed flat by many feet. 'Trample !' said those compassionate eyes. 'Trample ! Your foot suffers in pain ; it must suffer like all the feet that have stepped on this plaque. But that pain alone is enough. I understand your pain and your suffering. It is for that reason that I am here.' ‚</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;">'Lord, I resented your silence.'<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;">&nbsp;'I was not silent. I suffered beside you.'<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;">&nbsp;'But you told Judas to go away : What thou dost do quickly. What happened to Judas?'<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;">&nbsp;'I did not say that. Just as I told you to step on the plaque, so I told Judas to do what he was going to do. For Judas was in anguish as you are now.' (307)&nbsp;</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;">Endo, a Christian himself, suffered religious discrimination and this novel is his response to the near impossibility of the Eastern and Western cultures existing harmoniously.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span>Reading this beautiful novel I asked myself whether we, as human beings meant to err, do not emulate, at times, one by one, Father Ferreira, Father Rodrigues or Kichijiro, a Judas-like figure. Aren’t we the ones who do not give up hope no matter what, who question God’s existence and ask to be forgiven no matter how intolerable our sins may be? Or, as Father Ferreira, we change our views and give up our own beliefs because the circumstances demand we do so… Don’t we sacrifice ourselves for the ones we love thus changing forever our dreams and hopes?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;">Rodrigues apostatizes but this is not the end. It is in his heart that the love for Christ still lingers and the place where God will answer his prayers and questions.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span><b><span style="font-size: large;">“He who has heard the word of God, can bear his Silence.” Saint Ignatius&nbsp;</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;">Read for my own pleasure and for</span><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"> <a href="https://dolcebellezza.net/japanese-literature-challenge-10/" target="_blank">Bellezza's Japanese Reading Challenge</a>.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , sans-serif;">P.S. Scorsese's movie, which appeared at the end of last year, is a wonderful rendition of the novel.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IqrgxZLd_gE?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-1284140502626988812017-01-08T17:00:00.000+02:002017-01-08T17:05:08.135+02:00Another Gap of Time <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e5ef05eyVjc/WHJQ8Jj4U4I/AAAAAAAACFs/Ci9g1bQWa1AzLqCxfQWbxr35-26MRPzkACLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BCollage988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e5ef05eyVjc/WHJQ8Jj4U4I/AAAAAAAACFs/Ci9g1bQWa1AzLqCxfQWbxr35-26MRPzkACLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BCollage988.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I am (almost) speechless when my former students and current (best) friends get inspired and write about my favorite writers (after I nag them for a while :))<br /><br />Here is Alle's review of <b>Jeanette Winterson's "The Gap of Time"</b>, with a few annotations :)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>If you give me a book, you give me a world. My fairy godmother knows that. She bought one for my birthday. Besides chocolate and some butterflies, thiiiiiiiis book had my name on it. She wrote some words on the first page. Those words became, by far, my favorite dedication written by this amazing woman! But... I keep it for myself until I become what she wrote there. Soon, I hope. So, dear, dear FG, I promise. I promise I'll do my best to become your favorite writer. Ooooops. I said it.</i></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>So, as I have already mentioned, this book, the present from my dearest fairy godmother was a challenge and something new. Jeanette Winterson is quite unique in style, point of view in matters of love and writing and existence, and her literature requires an open mind and acceptance, otherwise you will get bored. Maybe even annoyed. Her life and her past resulted in her writing style, so before judging an author, try to understand their lives.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>I met Jeanette Winterson's literature pretty long time ago. I have this feeling because I cannot remember the things I did yesterday but years ago... Anyway. I remember something that she noticed and I agree with. She said that book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those who do it must do it. True story. I know my own book-obsession-occupation-disease-addiction-fascination-absurdity-fate and I am glad that someone explained all these in a quote. She gave an answer to all those who judge us, the bookworms. Now I can defend my book-obsession-occupation-disease-addiction-fascination-absurdity-fate. Full stop and breathe.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Jeanette Winterson reinvented the Winter’s Tale. The characters are renamed and the action is placed in our modern world. King Leontes becomes Leo Kaiser in Jeanette's cover, a businessman who accuses his wife, MiMi (Hermione in Shakespeare's play) and his best friend, Polixene (who becomes Xeno) of adultery. The little girl, Perdita, is abandoned by Leo who blames his wife and his best friend for an untrue complicity. He is blinded by this idea and he abandons his own child.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The title tells us about the period which wasn't presented in Shakespeare's play. Jeanette Winterson manages to create new modern characters, people who live in their own controversial worlds and, at the same time, in a common world which unites their personal tragedies. The little girl opens and closes the gap. She is part of the destiny, the one who retrieves the characters' cobweb, settling down the chaos. The parable of the angel caught in the bonds of a building and the consequences of those only two choices he can make, demonstrates the difficulty of the matter, the choice which can destroy everything forever or can cause the beginning of something new, rebuilt.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i><b style="background-color: #a64d79;">Here are my favorite quotes:</b></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">Tears of rain. (Perfect!).</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">You were loved then and you are loved now. Isn’t that enough? (This might be the best. In my opinion).</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">There was a second, the kind that holds a whole world.&nbsp;</i></span></span><br /><i style="background-color: #a64d79; color: yellow; font-family: helveticaneue, &quot;helvetica neue&quot;, helvetica, arial, &quot;lucida grande&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Isn't there always a history to the story?</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">There's no shortage of heartbreak.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">I have felt safe with you and that was unexpected.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">She wanted to kiss the hesitation of his throat. (This is sooooooooo... makes me close my eyes and dream).</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">Leave it without a name but with something to begin the story.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">The past is a grenade that explodes when thrown.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">The whole day passed and then it was night and nothing had changed because everything had changed.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">What is a memory anyway but a painful dispute with the past?</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">... sometimes you have to accept that your heart knows what to do. (But what if the heart is wrong?)</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13px;"><i style="background-color: #a64d79;">Moon’s gravitational pull means that earth doesn’t wobble too much. Scientists call it obliquity. The moon holds us fast.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;helveticaneue&quot; , &quot;helvetica neue&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;lucida grande&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">You can pay <b>Alle </b>a visit <b><a href="https://aripidincioburi.com/the-gap-of-time/" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;</b></span></span></div></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-4072060030990434762017-01-03T14:00:00.000+02:002017-01-03T16:12:50.632+02:00"White Feathers in the Snow" <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dfKSM0JN2VQ/WGuwend9XBI/AAAAAAAACFc/Qagy_nsRBGcQMaKOHZPCT-YQPYZqqm55wCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dfKSM0JN2VQ/WGuwend9XBI/AAAAAAAACFc/Qagy_nsRBGcQMaKOHZPCT-YQPYZqqm55wCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage00.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;&nbsp;</span></b><br /><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The worlds revolve like ancient women&nbsp;</span></b><br /><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gathering fuel in vacant lots. (Preludes)</span></b><br /><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666;"><br /></span></b><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have heard the key&nbsp;</span></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Turn in the door once and turn once only&nbsp;</span></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We think of the key, each in his prison&nbsp;</span></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison&nbsp;</span></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Only at nightfall, aethereal rumours&nbsp;</span></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus. (The Waste Land)</span></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because these wings are no longer wings to fly</span></b></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But merely vans to beat the air</span></b></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The air which is now thoroughly small and dry</span></b></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Smaller and dryer than the will</span></b></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teach us to care and not to care</span></b></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-indent: -1em;"><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teach us to sit still. (Ash Wednesday)&nbsp;</span></b></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What a better start of the New Year than with <b>Jeremy Irons</b> reading poetry on BBC Radio 4 and <b>Jeanette Winterson</b> introducing T.S. Eliot's work in the first three parts of the radio show? Such a fantastic insight into Eliot's work and a mesmerising rendition of his lines by Mr. Irons! I simply love it!&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>T.S. Eliot</b> (1888 - 1965) was a famous American born poet, essayist and playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. Back in 1927 he became a British citizen. <b>"The Waste Land"</b> (1922) is considered by many to be the most influential poetic work of the twentieth century. In-between 1930-1960 he was the most dominant figure in poetry and literary criticism in the English speaking world.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can listen to the 5 parts for free this month <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b086l8ly" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;</span></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-16956022521906583112016-12-18T16:00:00.000+02:002016-12-18T16:30:29.136+02:00A Japanese "Scandal"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uxagcjRMIjA/WFabo7k3ZSI/AAAAAAAACE4/8KAOz075rfEQ6b5SW9dStPAbAgknhmtCgCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uxagcjRMIjA/WFabo7k3ZSI/AAAAAAAACE4/8KAOz075rfEQ6b5SW9dStPAbAgknhmtCgCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>“A person never knows their own true face. Everybody thinks that the phoney, posed social mask they wear is their real face.”<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></b></span><span style="color: red; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><span class="apple-converted-space"><br /></span></b></span></div><h4><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: justify;">Like any other Japanese novel that I have read, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; text-align: justify;"><i><u>Shusaku Endo's "Scandal" </u></i></b><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: justify;">impresses with the way the story unfolds and with the main character's struggle. Even if some critics have found the motif of the Doppelganger (a ghostly counterpart of a living person according to Merriam-Webster) a bit boring, I was taken aback by the way in which, step by step, everything turned blurry and I could not predict what was going to happen next. The mystery and confusion surrounding the main character, the old writer Suguru, always trying to write a better book, did not bother me; in fact, this was the key element that made me finish the novel in no time.</span></h4><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>“True religion should be able to respond to the dark melodies, the faulty and hideous sounds that echo from the heart of men.”<span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></b></span><span style="color: red; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><h4><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">What would you do if one day someone accused you, a person of high moral beliefs, of something embarrassing and</span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: justify;">undesirable? What would you do if your wife discovered you actually hired the young girl you had been dreaming about dating to help her with the daily chores? Would you accept the invitation to a love hotel in order to hunt down the impostor that pretends to be you? What if that impostor is, in fact, you?</span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">The novel, written in 1986, is set in Tokyo and it describes the night life of that period, with the sins and impulses that it involves for the modern man. I quite liked the story mainly because it reminded me of Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. A must read for all Japanese Literature lovers.&nbsp;</span></h4>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-44399491369783296462016-12-01T13:00:00.000+02:002016-12-01T15:12:22.102+02:00About a Dormant Blog, the National Day and Romanian Writers Challenge <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iMC3WQkKt_w/WEAXwQqBeLI/AAAAAAAACEg/gAA896PNhN4XoYtI-Zwm1rDoVcVRU0FYwCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iMC3WQkKt_w/WEAXwQqBeLI/AAAAAAAACEg/gAA896PNhN4XoYtI-Zwm1rDoVcVRU0FYwCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage888.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, this blog is not dead, it has simply enjoyed some time off, away from the madding crowds and deeply immersed into some serious reading. To paraphrase John Lennon who said that "life is what happens when you are busy making plans", I could say that reading happens when you stop writing posts :)&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anywayz :), I have read so many books for the challenges I am involved in that the only problem arising is which book to actually write about these days... but since today is the final day for the <i>First Edition of Romanian Writers' Challenge</i> I definitely have to praise a wonderful short story collection, a book which was also awarded <i>The First Prize for a Debut Manuscript</i> by Herg Benet Publishing House for 2014.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Mr. Red's Memoirs" (2015)&nbsp;</b>by <b>Celestin Cheran</b> is the book that made me stop saying I am not a huge fan of short stories, because I think I am. I am so impressed by every single one of these stories that reminded me of Haruki Murakami's talent of sweeping us off our feet with the fantastic turn a story could take, thus being left wondering what has happened and how could the story unfold after the writer has decided to end it on paper. With each of the 20 stories you get the chance to explore a slightly fantastic universe in which dull moments of everyday life transform themselves into a troubling decor for events that may seem unimaginable at first but that manage to make you doubt yourself and your mind.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another thing I enjoyed while reading the short stories was the fact that they are so different one from the others that it feels as if you are reading a different author with each story. Still, I do have two or three favorites: <b><i>"The Man with a Misty Face"</i></b> in which a man is bothered by some stalker that turns out to be him in the future; <b><i>"Jumping from a Skyscraper"</i></b> in which we see a suicide in slow motion; <b><i>"The Escalator"</i></b> &nbsp;- once you get on that escalator, there is no going back...</span><br /><b><i><br /></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> "You live all the time with the impression that you are somewhere in the middle of things. You are close to something and far from something else, never where you exactly want to be. In the place where something deep and inexact in you wants to be, something like a heart beating in the night covered by rivers." (The Escalator)&nbsp;</span></i></b><br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Celestin Cheran</b> defines himself as "an obsessive writer, one who writes "Six Word Stories" is order to keep his mind busy from other minds." He is 30 years old and his second volume of short stories appeared only a month ago and I will definitely read it! :)&nbsp;</span>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-45384676751217180862016-09-08T12:00:00.000+03:002016-09-08T16:24:34.421+03:00The Pleasures of Men <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-64tynDHKk44/V9FGYtMpZJI/AAAAAAAACEA/TeGGfyPoNcYRsSfKOgVkFX1QX7OuvG6MQCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage7y.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-64tynDHKk44/V9FGYtMpZJI/AAAAAAAACEA/TeGGfyPoNcYRsSfKOgVkFX1QX7OuvG6MQCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage7y.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;">It took me two years from wanting to read this book, to actually getting it and finally finishing it. I do not know why because I quite enjoyed this thriller set in Victorian times and I am glad I did not go with the rather displeasing reviews that stated it was not something spectacular... It proves that there is no account for taste and reading should be about what YOU choose to read and then like or dislike and not other people's opinion... which is not your own if you do not read the actual book.</span></h4><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>"The Pleasures of Men"</b> is a captivating book, quite disturbing in certain aspects, but not too disturbing to put it down. It was written in 2012 and it is <b>Kate Williams</b>' first book of fiction about a young girl obsessed with a serial killer in 1840 London. Williams is a historian who first published biographies on Queen Victoria or Napoleon's Josephine and this novel clearly shows her talent on telling a story while writing historical fiction.</span></h4><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><b style="background-color: #ea9999;">"The footstep comes once more, and then there is a breath. Walking forward, she tells herself that there is nothing. So many times has she thought a man was too near behind when he was simply close for no reason. She hears a cough and a clack of fine-sounding heels and her chest tightens. She moves more quickly. So does he. <i>God help me.</i>"&nbsp;</b></h4><div><b><br /></b></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;">Catherine lives in Spitalfields together with her dubious uncle and this Gothic story tells us why little by little. She seems tormented by the fact that years ago she chose to let her little brother be taken by some strangers and she is aware this changed her for the worst. She is attracted to what is dark around her, she does not like the company of others and she tortures herself in trying to find the serial killer who hunts young girls in the scary parts of London. Is she going mad because of her past and her mother who had mental problems or the serial killer is about to get her?</span></h4><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;">She does live in a perverse world, but has she contributed to this with her own nature, or the male dominated society has taken its toll on her? We have the cries at night, the fog and the candlelight, the plotting of almost every character in the book, the bumps in the dark but luckily, we do not have the feeling that this may be a work of fiction, too melodramatic for an ordinary taste. The book often gave me the feeling that I myself was in the story, watching Catherine spying on whoever the killer was... fantasizing about his reasons to kill and his next move.</span></h4><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><b style="background-color: #ea9999;">"That night, he thinks: <i>I must discover the next one.</i> It is exciting, his task, and daunting. The responsibility of finding. Into the streets the next day and searching for her. He understands that he must not be too ambitious, he must not expect to find her immediately. There are many girls in the city, after all."</b></h4><div><b><br /></b></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;">I loved the fact that we cannot predict what would happen to Catherine and how the story would end until the last pages. Also, the way Williams renders the character's thoughts for pages on end and makes them so interesting you cannot get bored proves her excellent talent as a writer.</span></h4><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-78666226274987844382016-09-01T07:00:00.000+03:002016-09-01T08:03:15.111+03:00Bonjour, Automne! <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f5r5PXBiwR0?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-19031414590434372072016-08-27T09:00:00.000+03:002016-08-27T09:00:37.576+03:00Becoming Jeanette Winterson <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-niKnIpNh7Pw/V8ALkNUFx9I/AAAAAAAACDo/yJhZKH0HxpA2GnBim6SflfhqtoNvBEzKgCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage71.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-niKnIpNh7Pw/V8ALkNUFx9I/AAAAAAAACDo/yJhZKH0HxpA2GnBim6SflfhqtoNvBEzKgCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage71.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;">T<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">oday my favorite writer turns 57. Happy Birthday to you, <b>Jeanette Winterson</b>! May you remain the same incredibly inspiring writer who is not afraid to speak her mind!&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You all know that Brexit happened but you may not be aware how vocal she has been about it and how she no longer thinks that Britain, with all the ugly changes, is her country. I love the fact that, while revisiting classic stories such as Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale" in her latest novel <b>"The Gap of Time"</b>&nbsp;(2015) she can still remain grounded in the present and not shy away from having a pertinent opinion about what happens in Britain and around the world.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In an article she wrote this June, she states something that now seems clear for most of us:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: cyan; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I am an optimist by nature. I believe in solutions. We need solutions to the absolute failure of the neoliberal Project Few, whereby capitalism has been hijacked to serve the rich, where investing for the long term has been replaced by short-term profiteering, and where globalisation has been allowed to wreck local economies in the name of free trade."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: cyan; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">She has a willingness to take risks and challenge herself and her readers that has remained constant throughout her career of more than 30 years. She is one of the most ambitious and inventive writers I have come across and I can't wait to (re)read her creative writing!&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: cyan; line-height: 24px;">"My two pillars are art and love and I had to learn both."&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: cyan; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">Here is a short interview with her in Australia this May, at the Sydney Writers' Festival:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: cyan; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: cyan; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yuu7Y3uuUgw" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: cyan; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">p.s. The black 'creature' in the picture is her cat, Nero.&nbsp;</span></span></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-9527061262165203332016-08-19T11:00:00.000+03:002016-08-19T11:00:41.125+03:00Born to Be Blue <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qhWDn97izlk/V7LTSsoe9BI/AAAAAAAACDY/n1MBO_3h_METEfo5gQpRxX0u5apBDr4KQCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qhWDn97izlk/V7LTSsoe9BI/AAAAAAAACDY/n1MBO_3h_METEfo5gQpRxX0u5apBDr4KQCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage55.jpg" width="342" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"I want to play. All I want is to play."&nbsp;</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is no such thing as too much<b> Ethan Hawke</b> on this blog :)&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am still incredibly grateful that he can be so prolific and release movie after movie, after book :)&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>"Born to Be Blue"</b> (2015) is a fantastic one, a mixture of beautiful &nbsp;jazz music, a story of never giving up on your dreams and Ethan Hawke getting more and more talented (who would have thought this was possible? :))&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"You should find one thing and be better at it than anybody else in the world."&nbsp;</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The drama film tells the story of <b>Chet Baker</b>, the American jazz trumpeter with a divine voice who falls in love in his adulthood and after getting his teeth knocked out in a fight, tries to musically come back and impress his audience with his original style and music. All this happens in the late 1960s and this is one more reason why you will most definitely enjoy the movie: the music is perfect, the atmosphere of those times is rendered vividly and 'the movie within a movie' idea (Chet was in fact asked to star in a movie about his life) mingles just fine.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What else to add? Ethan wanted to play this part for more than 15 years but at that time, his age did not match. &nbsp;After years of effort, he successfully managed to do that with his charisma, energy and fearlessness. Am I just praising him because I am a huge fan? Not really. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/20/ethan-hawke-chet-baker-born-to-be-blue-interview" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> and <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/born-to-be-blue-20160324" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a> have written wonderful reviews.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last but not least, Ethan performs two of the 14 songs from the soundtrack, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3dxVnEBoxQ" target="_blank">"My Funny Valentine"</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rLuZWz6qh8" target="_blank">"I've Never been in Love Before"</a>. Enjoy it!&nbsp;</span></div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lC1DQ9qIECo?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-51212581098408718992016-08-16T01:00:00.000+03:002016-08-16T11:44:49.638+03:00Madonna Saved My Life <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gxEKoVjX5bI?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-80516546380706911112016-08-12T14:19:00.000+03:002016-08-12T14:19:37.270+03:00My Romeo and Juliet <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7FU7aPRCpu0/V62vo9a43YI/AAAAAAAACDI/2AN1oMxY-RAkmMKej4o6aBBEzcCPkc4YwCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7FU7aPRCpu0/V62vo9a43YI/AAAAAAAACDI/2AN1oMxY-RAkmMKej4o6aBBEzcCPkc4YwCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage80.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><i>"Don't waste your love on somebody who doesn't value it."</i></b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">How I love a good live performance, especially if I get the chance to see it among the first! Almost two months ago I saw the premiere of the play</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>&nbsp;</b></span><b style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">"Romeo and Juliet"</b><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">at the</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">&nbsp;</span><b style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">National Theatre in Cluj - Napoca</b><span style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">. I did not know what to expect, the show did not even have a proper poster advertising it, but I am glad I went to see it with an open heart, because it proved to be unexpectedly wonderful.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;">"Romeo and Juliet"</span></b><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;">&nbsp;(1597) is probably Shakespeare's most famous play and it has been quite popular with directors along the centuries so it was no wonder I did ask myself whether I would be surprised or not by how the director would see the play and how the actors would act everything out on stage.&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #505050; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><i>"Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs."</i></b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;">Tudor Lucanu, the young director, set the story between the two rival families in two tailoring &nbsp;workshops. The space looked simple, filled with huge moving mirrors and body-like lamps. Long pieces of colorful cloth separated the two workshops and the costumes were cleverly created so that they represented a mixture between the classic and the nonconformity.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><i>"What's in a name? that which we call a rose</i></b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><i>By any other name would smell as sweet."</i></b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #505050; font-family: &quot;Georgia&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 13.5pt;">The performance was filled with funny moments and even though I knew what was coming next and that the play is, in fact, a tragedy, I could still enjoy the lighthearted moments which made even the actors on stage smile. I loved the way the well-known story ended, the director did not change its ending but he masterfully added a new meaning. What a great idea! Well done to the young actors who offered two hours of exquisite performance! If you have the chance to see it, you should definitely take it!&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #505050; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-22754711994283374022016-08-07T09:00:00.000+03:002016-08-07T14:43:49.881+03:00The Miniaturist <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_L9myclVsck/V6SnR9NCmHI/AAAAAAAACCM/8kq80D3lx6UO3lTlRrxrvOo5BwYgjuSJwCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BCollage65.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_L9myclVsck/V6SnR9NCmHI/AAAAAAAACCM/8kq80D3lx6UO3lTlRrxrvOo5BwYgjuSJwCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BCollage65.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: large;">"Every woman is the architect of her own fortune."&nbsp;</span></b><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Celebrating August as the month dedicated to <b>Women in Translation</b>, I had to write a few lines on this absolutely fabulous book I read last month, even if it was in English, not in translation.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><b>"The Miniaturist"</b>&nbsp;is <b>Jessie Burton</b>'s first book and I am definitely going to read her latest "The Muse" which appeared this June.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Back to <b>"The Miniaturist" </b>(2014), the book is set in 17th century Amsterdam and it was inspired by<a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BK-NM-1010" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BK-NM-1010" target="_blank">a dolls' house which can be found in the King's Museum in Amsterdam.</a> Actually, last year I saw this dolls' house and I still remember the effect it had on me: so small and yet so perfectly made. It has a special place in the vast museum and this is mainly because there are not as many dolls' houses in that pristine condition in the world. At that time I was not aware of the book, but then this year I read a few lines about it on a blog and the whole story intrigued me so I decided to delve in it.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: large;"><b>"Growing older does not seem to make you more certain. It simply presents you with more reasons for doubt."&nbsp;</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">"The Miniaturist" is a mysterious character in the novel who helps the young and newly-wed Nella Oortman to discover the truth about her husband and his relatives and see life in a different (better?) perspective. To pass the time, Nella receives a present from her husband: a dolls' house, which is, in fact, a perfect replica of her own house. Then, the eerie miniaturist sends more figurines than she is required and the secrets start to unfold. Will she be able to cope with all of them? That is for you to find out...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: large;"><b>"A lifetime isn't enough to know how a person will behave."&nbsp;</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">What I really loved, besides the thrilling story and the unexpected events was the witty voice in which the whole story was narrated. The words seemed to be perfectly chosen and everything came together in such a way as to create a perfect novel.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Sold in more than 1 million copies, this is a wonderful must-read.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Here is Jessie Burton talking about her book in a BBC interview.&nbsp;</span></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5DhRqNNzRP4?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-53711196234529829272016-08-02T16:00:00.000+03:002016-08-02T16:19:50.062+03:00Women in Translation Month <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8SWFLSm7HY8/V6CaW73072I/AAAAAAAACB8/DbJAGjqd65kerdzm57-7xe0BFMu3pjIcQCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BImage555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8SWFLSm7HY8/V6CaW73072I/AAAAAAAACB8/DbJAGjqd65kerdzm57-7xe0BFMu3pjIcQCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BImage555.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tony, from <a href="https://tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Tony's Reading List</a> reminded me that August is the month for <a href="http://biblibio.blogspot.ro/2016/06/witmonth-third.html" target="_blank">Women in Translation</a> and since I am quite eager to read two or three women &nbsp;writers translated into Romanian, I am definitely in for the challenge. It is the third year in which Meytal hosts the challenge and this is very simple: you have to read women writers, no matter their country or year of publishing and I am sure that, for most of you, this challenge can easily go hand in hand with others. In my case, I will read a Japanese writer (also for Bellezza's Reading Challenge), a Romanian one for the challenge I host and another one for the 20 Books of Summer Challenge.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><b>"Sticletele" </b>(The Goldfinch) will be my first Donna Tartt and I can't wait to see the reasons why this book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2014.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />I really liked Ana Manescu's "alter.ego" and I am looking forward to reading this one, <b>"Quasar"</b>. &nbsp;She seems such a promising young voice in the Romanian literature.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />&nbsp;<b>"Pravalia de maruntisuri a domnului Nakano"</b>&nbsp;(The Nakano Thrift Shop) is going to be my third Kawakami and I hope I will enjoy it as much as the other two.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />What are you reading this August? :)&nbsp;</span></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-27694609150645343552016-07-23T11:00:00.000+03:002016-07-23T11:04:11.042+03:00Amelie Nothomb - Part II of Paris in July <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yWcBloZIp_U/V5MikqD3epI/AAAAAAAACBc/qn3u8QbC-hgpIZPDf1R_XuF97xjEo9KeQCLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BCollage55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yWcBloZIp_U/V5MikqD3epI/AAAAAAAACBc/qn3u8QbC-hgpIZPDf1R_XuF97xjEo9KeQCLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BCollage55.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><strong style="background-color: #882222; color: seashell; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">'</span><em>Il y a un instant, entre la&nbsp;quinzième et la seizième gorgée de champagne, où tout homme est un aristocrate</em>'</strong></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><strong style="background-color: #882222; color: seashell; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px; text-align: left;"><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">On my way to rediscover Paris in July I started reading Margaux Fragoso's "Tigre! Tigre!" but the memoir of a young girl falling in love with a fifty year old man was too serious and "fatigante", so I replaced it with Amelie Nothomb's <b>"Le Fait du Prince"</b>, published in 2008.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">I have read books penned by Nothomb in the past, and every time I did that, I (re)discovered a very talented writer, one whose imagination goes beyond the ordinary, and "Le Fait du Prince", translated into Romanian as "The Right to Live and Die" makes no exception.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">The short novel starts with the idea of someone dying in your home and with the best steps to follow if you find yourself in this dreadful situation. Then, the main character, a bored man who can't even remember what his job is, "allows" a stranger to die in his home... only to decide to steal his life and become that rich man himself. Even though it may seem strange at first, Nothomb knows how to turn an unbelievable story into something you would like to experience... or at least write about. I really enjoyed the way she can take unpleasant characters and make them quite plausible in their actions.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">A story worth reading, whether it is for Tamara's <a href="http://thyme-for-tea.blogspot.ro/2016/07/paris-in-july-week-3-links.html" target="_blank">"Paris in July"</a> reading challenge or simply because you want to discover a very imaginative French writer...&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YjslOFTvCFY?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8264873141747289607.post-81304433475033180612016-07-17T13:00:00.000+03:002016-07-17T13:00:00.219+03:00Cold Fish <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mU_PK9-5Qcs/V4tS05axirI/AAAAAAAACBM/j4ofDO0BABI6hB6rHc1tIV6mMToJaaBiACLcB/s1600/PicMonkey%2BCollage09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mU_PK9-5Qcs/V4tS05axirI/AAAAAAAACBM/j4ofDO0BABI6hB6rHc1tIV6mMToJaaBiACLcB/s400/PicMonkey%2BCollage09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I decided to watch another Sion Sono movie and this time, I got more than I would have wished for. I was aware that the Japanese director was in for shocking the hell out of us, but he went much further and exploited the true story of two serial killers in order to transform it into something horrifying and totally outrageous.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The title of <b>"Cold Fish"</b>, directed in 2010, has a double meaning: the main characters are owners of exotic fish shops, but the idiom "cold fish" also refers to someone who shows no emotion and looks uninterested, until...&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first 45 minutes seem "reasonable" to watch and you may think the story could go anywhere just to end up into something ordinary, but do not be fooled, at the Venice International Film Festival in 2010 the movie received the best screenplay award, so if you are not sickened by the literal blood and guts spread everywhere, you may ask yourself why a perfect stranger would want to help you when you face a problem... Add to this an unsatisfied wife, a house in the woods and a calm husband who can take so much... <b>"Life is pain"</b>, utters the main character as his final line and if you are brave enough, you will be able to discover his madness at the end of this vicious and dark horror movie.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can find the trailer <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64Qlggt4I2Y" target="_blank">here.&nbsp;</a></span></div>Allyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13519013112094411314noreply@blogger.com0